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Parents voice approval for change to child car-seat law

MILFORD - While the new car seat regulations set to come into effect in January have caught some parents by surprise, most interviewed for this story said they support keeping children in safety seats longer.

"My son stayed in his booster seat until he was 8," said Cherie Hawkes of Wilton. "I'm a firm believer in them."

Hawkes said her husband is a firefighter, and the stories he's shared of children injured in automobile accidents motivates her to err on the side of caution.

"A lot of kids are still too small for their seat belts by the time they're old enough to be out of car seats," she said.

"If it saves one child's life, I'm OK` with it," said Marsha Pomerleau, a mother and an emergency dispatcher who lives in Jaffrey.

"With all the texting, the telephones, the radios, people just aren't paying attention to the road," she said.

Brian Pishon of Bedford echoed Pomerleau's comments.

"It's much more dangerous driving out there than it used to be," he said. "That superseded the desire of kids to be out of a car seat or sit in the front seat."

Pomerleau said he has two children who will be affected by the regulation, and he's all for it.

But Asena Roy of Lyndeborough, who hadn't heard about the new law, said she wasn't necessarily happy about it.

"To be honest, I didn't even know about it," she said, "but I find it slightly annoying. My son gets really antsy in his car seat, and he's really ready to be in a booster seat, but he's too young."

Roy said that the cost of child car seats should have been taken into consideration and added, "If they're going to change the regulations, they should focus on making sure there are more good jobs with good pay."

Jay Lobellaud and Alison Payne of Milford, who have five children to fit in their car, two of them in car seats, said they're fine with the new law.

"It's a little tight in the cars," said Lobellaud, "but at the end of the day, it doesn't really make a difference as long as they're safe."